About CommonKeel
Updated July 3, 2026
CommonKeel is the practical operating desk for volunteer boards running self-managed HOAs and condominium associations — roughly 5 to 250 units, no management company, officers doing the work around full-time jobs.
Why this site exists
Somewhere between a quarter and 40 percent of America’s 373,000 community associations are self-managed. That’s millions of volunteer board members. Yet nearly everything written for them is published by someone selling them something: software vendors whose “best HOA software” articles conclude that the best software is their own; management companies whose content quietly argues you need a management company; law firms writing for one state. We inspected the actual search results for the questions boards ask — the pattern held on almost every page.
CommonKeel takes the open slot: writing from the volunteer board’s side of the table, with the exact spreadsheet, checklist, comparison table, or statute citation the job needs.
What we believe (and enforce on ourselves)
- Ungated first. Our templates and calculator are free without an email address. The Board Starter Pack is 11 working files, no strings.
- Published methodology. Comparison criteria and weights are defined before scoring — read the methodology and check our math.
- Honest labeling. Comparisons based on vendor documentation say so. “Review” is reserved for products we’ve genuinely used. Details in our editorial standards.
- Primary sources for legal claims. State-law statements carry statute citations, access dates, and verify-current-law caveats. What we couldn’t verify to primary depth is labeled as such — see any row on the state hub.
- Disclosed economics. As of July 3, 2026 we earn nothing from any vendor mentioned on this site. When that changes, the disclosure page and each affected page will say so plainly — and rankings will never be for sale.
What we are not
We are not a law firm, accounting firm, property manager, reserve-study provider, or licensed adviser of any kind. We’re the competent fellow treasurer at the next desk — useful, prepared, and clear about where our competence ends. When your decision needs a licensed professional, we say so and try to help you hire one well. Full boundaries: disclaimer.
Our name
“CommonKeel” is our brand, and commonkeel.com is our home. Content, methodology, and policies are vendor-neutral and independent.
Contact
Corrections, suggestions, and provider tips: contact page. Corrections are taken seriously — factual fixes get priority handling under our editorial standards.